Downloading files
The files available for download in the extranet pages are in a variety of formats. The following notes detail the file types and the software required to open them. Select from the links below.
Adobe PDF ~ Microsoft Excel ~ Microsoft Word
MP3 audio ~ RSS news feeds ~ Other queries
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Adobe PDF documents
Adobe's portable document format files have the .pdf extension and allow information from any software application to be viewed on any computer system without the possibility of information being lost or altered.
Adobe provide a free PDF file reader application called Adobe Reader. This can be downloaded from the Adobe website.
Microsoft Excel files
Microsoft Excel is one of the most widely used spreadsheet applications on the market. Excel files have the .xls extension, but Excel can also open a number of other file types including comma separated value files (.csv) and plain text files (.txt).
If you do not have Microsoft Excel, you can view and print Excel files using the Microsoft Excel Viewer 2003. This can be downloaded from the Microsoft website (open in new window).
If you need to edit data, save a spreadsheet or create a new one, there is an open source alternative available in the Calc application within the Open Office suite of office applications. Being open source, Open Office is free to download, use and distribute. It is compatible with all other major office suites.
For more information and to download the software, visit the Open Office website (opens in new window).
Microsoft Word files
Microsoft Word is one of the most widely used word processing applications on the market. Word files have the .doc extension, but Word can also open a number of other file types including plain text files (.txt), rich text files (.rtf) and web pages (.htm or .html).
If you do not have Microsoft Word, you can view and print Word files using the Microsoft Word Viewer 2003. This can be downloaded from the Microsoft website.
If you need to edit text, save a document or create a new one, there is an open source alternative available in the Writer application within the Open Office suite of office applications. Being open source, Open Office is free to download, use and distribute. It is compatible with all other major office suites.
For more information and to download the software, visit the Open Office website (opens in new window).
MPEG audio files
All audio files available for download on this website are in the MPEG audio format, or MP3. They have the .mp3 extension and can be played using any audio player such as Windows Media Player (supplied with Microsoft Windows) or Real Player. If you would like to listen to an audio file, left-click the link to listen to it straight away or download it onto your computer by right clicking the image and selecting 'save target as....'.
If you use an audio feed aggregator such as Juice, iTunes, or Doppler you can receive automatic audio downloads when they are published to the site by using the RSS feeds. For further information on how to do this, visit our RSS podcast feeds directory or the BBC website's introductory guide to podcasts and audio downloads (opens in a new window)
RSS news feeds
In addition to the RSS podcast feeds, we have also published some RSS text feeds. Using news reader software, these will enable you to receive news from the Authority directly on your computer as soon as it is published.
There are many different versions of news reader software - some are accessed in your internet browser (for example, FeedZilla or NewsGator), while others are downloadable applications that store the news feeds on your computer (for example, FeedDemon, Awasu or NewzCrawler). For more information on RSS news feeds and the software required to receive them, see the BBC website's guide to news feeds (opens in a new window).
Other queries
If you have any questions about downloading files from the extranet or the software required to open them, please email the website administrator.
